'Mad City' screws up the same way that 'John Q' and 'The Life Of David Gale' screw up. Each of these political hot potatoes start with a worthwhile cause, but ineptitude in writing and direction ruins all 3 pictures. Medical bureaucracy and the death penalty were the subjects of 'John Q' and 'The Life Of David Gale', respectively. Since the issues of the blood-thirsty media and the plight of the blue-collar workforce are not quite as pressing as saving lives OR taking lives, 'Mad City' starts out a notch below right out of the gate. Truly, the notion that television stations will crush anybody for ratings (including inflating an event into a circus) is old, old news. Less than an hour into this movie, my eyes were starting to roll.
Director Costa-Gavras must be the chief culprit for this mess. I kept thinking that it would only take a gentle nudge to turn this into a parody. There's a real problem with tone, and that can only be blamed on the director. Why did he and John Travolta think it was a good idea to make Travolta's character such an idiot? The man is just a few IQ points above Forrest Gump. I would have preferred if he had played it the way he played George in 'Phenomenon'. Instead, he's too much of an unprepared fool to be capable of holding a museum full of kids hostage for days on end. He may be likable, but he's still a criminal.
Dustin Hoffman plays the one-time superstar reporter who stumbles upon this story and proceeds to gain Travolta's confidence---even managing to leave the secured museum whenever he pleases. Even though he has several opportunities to end the siege (including 2 or 3 chances to grab the shotgun), he would rather keep the story going and pretend to be trying to help Travolta. Scenes like these come within an eyelash of a Marx Brothers routine, so how can anybody take the movie seriously? The two superstars work together about as well as they can, although Hoffman's manipulative monotone grows tiresome quickly.
I always have a hard time excusing a character who victimizes innocent people and creates a dangerous mess just because he's lost his job or because he's hurting. The middle and lower classes ARE being creamed by the rich and thoughtless (and it's often the media who swoop in to profit from the misery), but these films I've mentioned make me want to root against the underdog. Blowing up buildings and taking hostages is a terrorist act. Cripes, 'Mad City' has probably got most viewers on its side right from the start. Most of us think the media are scumbags and many of us can relate to losing the only crummy job we could get. Squandering my good will with bad direction, weak writing, and insufficient performances is what's maddening about this dud called 'Mad City'.
Director Costa-Gavras must be the chief culprit for this mess. I kept thinking that it would only take a gentle nudge to turn this into a parody. There's a real problem with tone, and that can only be blamed on the director. Why did he and John Travolta think it was a good idea to make Travolta's character such an idiot? The man is just a few IQ points above Forrest Gump. I would have preferred if he had played it the way he played George in 'Phenomenon'. Instead, he's too much of an unprepared fool to be capable of holding a museum full of kids hostage for days on end. He may be likable, but he's still a criminal.
Dustin Hoffman plays the one-time superstar reporter who stumbles upon this story and proceeds to gain Travolta's confidence---even managing to leave the secured museum whenever he pleases. Even though he has several opportunities to end the siege (including 2 or 3 chances to grab the shotgun), he would rather keep the story going and pretend to be trying to help Travolta. Scenes like these come within an eyelash of a Marx Brothers routine, so how can anybody take the movie seriously? The two superstars work together about as well as they can, although Hoffman's manipulative monotone grows tiresome quickly.
I always have a hard time excusing a character who victimizes innocent people and creates a dangerous mess just because he's lost his job or because he's hurting. The middle and lower classes ARE being creamed by the rich and thoughtless (and it's often the media who swoop in to profit from the misery), but these films I've mentioned make me want to root against the underdog. Blowing up buildings and taking hostages is a terrorist act. Cripes, 'Mad City' has probably got most viewers on its side right from the start. Most of us think the media are scumbags and many of us can relate to losing the only crummy job we could get. Squandering my good will with bad direction, weak writing, and insufficient performances is what's maddening about this dud called 'Mad City'.